nature based solutions

Nature-based Solutions for Climate Resilience

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Nature-based Solutions (NbS) has become a buzz term recently but it is actually something we have been doing for a very long time.

When implementing Nature-based Solutions, we look at a problem we have and how nature can help us solve this problem. The focus is on “us”. NbS have a real emphasis on societal challenges that we face today  like flooding, water scarcity, or soil erosion.

For example, instead of building a seawall or a dam to protect from climate risks, Nature-based solutions could include restoring and conserving coral reefs and mangrove belts. They will act as a first line of defense and will dissipate up to 95% of wave energy, increasing the resilience to coastal flooding and sea level rise. Nature is an essential tool for addressing the threats to climate, biodiversity and sustainable development.

NbS are often cheaper than traditional solutions. Cheaper to install and in the long run.  As a living system, they can become self-sustaining over time reducing the costs of maintenance.

nature based solutions

The picture was taken in 2014 when I was surveying one of our NbS projects in the Bahamas. We deployed one of the largest artificial reefs in the Bahamas to protect against shore erosion. Across the Caribbean, NbS could play a significant role in ensuring climate resilience, and would bring substantial additional co-benefits including: improved management of natural capital; maintaining or enhancing greenhouse gas sinks; and a range of other regulating, supporting, provisioning, and cultural ecosystem services.

So why isn’t it implemented more often?

The IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) has identified several barriers. For example, the management of nature and ecosystem services typically resides in the Ministry of Environment, while decisions concerning infrastructure tend to be made in Ministries of Planning and Finance. This can mean that options such as NbS aren’t always considered in early stage planning and procurement processes for infrastructure.

Follow the link to learn more and download the IDB report: https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Nature-based_Solutions_Scaling_Private_Sector_Uptake_for_Climate_Resilient_Infrastructure_in_Latin_America_and_the_Caribbean.pdf

 

Sargassum Podcast

Sargassum Podcast – Internship opportunity

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Environmental Communications Coordinator Internship

Weekly work hours: 5-20 (can be adjusted to specific needs and abilities)

Length of internship: min. 8 weeks

Location: remote

 

About the Sargassum Podcast:

A podcast hosted by marine educators and scientists with a range of expertise in Sargassum and Coastal & Indigenous Communities. The hosts interviews scientists, entrepreneurs, resource managers, community leaders, government officials, artists, fishermen, the tourism sector, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to discuss their experiences with Sargassum, a floating alga that has caused severe problems during large scale Sargassum beaching events (SBE) in the greater Caribbean basin and West Africa. Each interviewee will discuss their solutions or new knowledge and experiences they have generated to deal with these SBE’s. The podcasts will enable bidirectional knowledge exchange between experts and local communities and between local and regional communities. We hope to inspire local solutions to this international conservation issue within the blue economy.

 

Additional info: https://marinefrontiers.org/sargassum

 

Potential Tasks:

  • Participate in podcast interview recording
  • Prepare recorded material for producer (identify and cut segments that will not be included in final product)
  • Contact potential interviewees
  • Prepare questions and bio for interview
  • Write show notes
  • Produce graphic for episode using our Canva template
  • Upload audio and video podcast to the publishing platforms
  • Correct automatic generated YouTube captions
  • Write and publish social media posts (Instagram, Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn) for each episode
  • Create engaging social media content
  • Write discussion guides for educational purpose (high school classes) for episode
  • Translate written or spoken material to Spanish, French, Dutch, English or Creole Languages
  • Interact with listeners and social media followers
  • Identify and contact radio, print media and podcasts across the Caribbean for opportunities to get interviewed or publish an article
  • Write article for newspaper or magazine
  • Give interview to radio station about your internship experience

Needed qualities:

  • Currently attend a US community college (requirement from our funding agency)
  • Interest in solving environmental problems that have social, ecological, and economical implications and that span country, language and cultural borders.
  • Openness and curiosity towards other cultures and various stakeholder groups (scientists, entrepreneurs, NGOs, government agencies, tourism sector, artists, artisans, Indigenous communities, fishermen and other stakeholders)
  • Familiar with podcasting and social media as tools to disseminate information and educate
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Stable internet connection and willingness to work remotely
  • Outgoing and not shy to speak on camera
  • Well organized and able to work independently

Useful additional qualities:

  • Fluent in 2 or more of these languages:

English, Creole [English, French or Portuguese], Dutch, French or Spanish

  • Some familiarity with Sargassum or tropical marine ecosystems
  • Experience with seafaring cultures of the greater Caribbean basin or West Africa
  • Experience with audio or video podcasting, interviewing or social media coordination

Skills the intern can gain:

  • Learn how to work with a fully remote team
  • Science journalism/science communication research skills
  • Interviewing skills
  • Social media content creation and coordination
  • Translation skills
  • Newspaper and magazine article writing
  • Familiarity with podcast production tasks
  • Knowledge on how Sargassum affects different stakeholders

Example Internship schedule:

Week 1-2:

Become familiar with Sargassum issues and solutions across the greater Caribbean basin and West Africa by listening to past podcast episodes and reading reports, newspaper articles and scientific literature.

Become familiar with The Sargassum Podcast and its social media content by listening to past podcast episodes and browsing through our website and social media accounts.

Meet with mentor (Franziska) on a weekly basis.

Week 2 or 3:

Meet with mentor to discuss which tasks you want to be involved in, give feedback on how to improve podcast and social media and pitch ideas for podcast episode topics and people to interview.

Week 3-4:

Get trained in the tasks you will take over.

Week 4- second to last week:

Perform assigned tasks and meet with mentor on weekly basis.

Last week:

Write internship report (if needed for your school), mentor reviews the report. Final meeting to reflect on internship and give feedback to each other.

 

To apply Contact Franziska Elmer, PhD: Franziskaelmer@hotmail.com

coral reef biodiversity

Why we need healthy coral reefs

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When we talk about biodiversity and climate change, generally our conversation will drift towards the Amazon or other terrestrial diverse locations that we’ve seen on Nat Geo. Usually, after that we inevitably have to bring up the variety of species that live in that environment, “Ooo, look at that weird bird!”. From our previous article about diversity within an ecosystem we know that without a strong variability in species type, the biodiversity of an ecosystem will struggle, and could fail, in some cases.

coral reef biodiversityWhen we talk about the marine environment, sometimes the discussion about the importance of biodiversity doesn’t make its way to the forefront. But much like its terrestrial counterparts, the ocean needs to be just as diverse to survive. One main component in providing this species variability is a coral reef. Most people, even those who don’t scuba dive or snorkel, know about the importance of coral reefs and that we are losing too much coral around the world. The Great Barrier Reef is a strong example of what could be the future of coral if we don’t do something soon.

Astoundingly, coral reefs only cover less than 0.5% of the global sea floor, but they contain nearly 25% of marine species, providing protection and shelter for breeding and spawning species. The delicate chemistry of the ocean is changing due to rising temperatures from climate change. This shift is causing large-scale coral bleaching around the world, as we see with the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Scientists have made some devastating predictions that the majority of the reef will be bleached in the year 2050!

To combat this destruction there have been pushes to increase protection of coral reef areas, implementing fish schoolMPAs (marine protected areas) and decreasing the unsustainable and harmful fishing practices. However, there are many who are unsure whether this will be enough. One small thing that gives us hope is the productivity of coral reef “farming”, which has seen an increase in viability and larval dispersal. This solution, along with coral transplantation, may only be successful on a local level but could have a global effect. However, we must keep in mind that without drastically reducing the CO2 levels in the atmosphere, it seems like we are on a fast train with no breaks.

Coral reefs are vital to the sustainability of a biodiverse marine ecosystem. Period. But everything is connected, just like it is on land. By limiting the amount of detrimental fishing, protecting certain species, we are increasing the chance that a reef will survive. In addition, reducing the amount of CO2 globally, we can reduce the rise in temperature which can slow the change in ocean chemistry. All of these steps can help coral reef vitality and should be something we hold as a priority!

It is our responsibility to enact change, and it is our responsibility to reduce our impact on delicate ecosystems.

Biodiversity is in our hands… how will we respond?

Sylvia Earl_Ocean_Blue Economy_Climate change

Words Matter – A new narrative for the Oceans

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“The ocean sustains and feeds us. It connects us. It is our past and our future. The ocean is not too big to fail, nor is it too big to fix. It is too big to ignore.” Jane Lubchenco

Plastic Ocean Project, Bonnie Monteleone

Human beings are a chatty bunch. Since the dawn of language, we as a species have been naming the objects that surround us. We have used our languages to convey thought, emotion, and even abstract concepts. Narratives can be impactful and assist in framing our thoughts and inevitably our actions. Just as nature has, the narrative surrounding the ocean needs to evolve.

For the majority of our time here on this planet the ocean was considered to be too vast to conquer and that nothing we could do would impact its immense being. A narrative that “there are plenty of fish in the sea” and nothing we do will deplete them was all too common for a long time. We have made an impact and those fish populations have dwindled. Turns out we, as small as we can be, do have a giant effect on the bountiful supplies of the ocean. All this old narrative does is continuate unsustainable practices.

For the past 15 years or so, a narrative of gloom and doom has emerged from the coral scientific land-s-end-ocean-reefs-coast-thumbnailcommunity. Though, we need to be careful about creating narratives that gets drowned in the despair of not knowing where to go from here. Our planet is depleted. There are facts every day about how we, as a society, are unsustainably using the earth’s resources. But that rhetoric only brings depression and lack of motivation to enact change. The truth is, it will be difficult to change how we’ve always done things, how our narrative has created our view of the resources we have access to. But there is hope.

Hope comes in many forms. What is clearly a viable ray of sunshine is green energy and reusable resources. Opportunities are becoming more and more prevalent as we step outside the existing narrative of “what are our resources?” Suddenly, more and more invaluable ideas are sprouting up concerning efficiency, biotechnology, solar power, and holistic approaches. Around the world, innovative solutions now combine AI, machine learning, big data, and remote sensing to manage and protect the oceans. We are creating solutions so that fisheries can work smarter and not harder. This means that ecosystems can be revitalized. Because the ocean is critical to our planet’s health and wellness, including everything living on it, the developments surrounding ocean health are at the pinnacle of importance.

Sylvia Earl_Ocean_Blue Economy_Climate changeBottom line, if our oceans die, we die. As Sylvia Earl would say: “No Blue, No Green. No Water, No life”. This new narrative that needs to be adopted must acknowledge that the ocean is central to our health and well-being as a species as well as our future. This new narrative will not suddenly make everything healthy and change the status quo, but it could unleash new innovative ideas that further progress the environmental conversation. Now, more than ever, new scientists, new ideas, new realms of study are needed so that we can launch ourselves headfirst into developing solutions that protect our resources while simultaneously stimulates global change.

When we heal the ocean, we can then heal ourselves.